The Glass Vampire

by David Page

  “That bastard and his agents killed four of my men.” Jack’s free hand closed into a fist. “I’d love to shoot the bastard myself, but I just don’t have the time.” He paused and then nodded.

  “What happens now?” Richard asked, hiding the relief he felt that Beth was now safe.

  “We’re going for a little ride.” Jack smiled humorlessly.

  “I’m a cop,” Ray interrupted. “Do you really want the Seattle PD on your ass along with the Department?”

  “Do you know what, detective?” Jack turned part way around. “I really don’t give a shit.”

  Richard walked forward a pace.

  Jack spun back towards him, gun leveled. “I wouldn’t, fangs.”

  Out of his peripheral vision, Richard saw the two other mercenaries turn their weapons towards him and aim down their sights.

  “Why are you doing this, Jack?” Beth’s voice was steady, confident as she emerged from concealment. She held her hands at her sides palms outwards to show that she had no weapons.

  Richard’s heard skipped a beat. He had told her to stay there in the safety of the basement. Now she was another potential death on his conscience. She walked over to stand beside Richard. As she did so, Richard noted that her gun stuck out of her waistband at the small of her back. He tensed, ready for whatever foolish rescue she was about to attempt, his only thought suddenly to protect her.

  “And I thought you were dead. You’re a good liar, Richard.” The mercenary leader laughed. “I care, Beth. About as much as I care about dolphins.” He shook his head. “Freaken naïve activists. I think I’ll go have a tuna sandwich and maybe later I’ll drop a cigarette into a dry section of the forest when I’m done here.”

  “Do not harm these people, Jack.” Richard shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action. “I am capable of doubling whatever Questor is paying you.” Richard knew from experience men like Jack could always be bought, if you could figure out what they wanted.

  “You guessed wrong. Nice try though.” Jack laughed. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your money. I’m loaded.”

  Richard’s hope faded.

  “What do you want, then?” Beth’s voice quavered. She let her hands drop against her thighs.

  Richard prepared to jump in front of her.

  “I’m in it for the action.” Jack smiled. “Trying to get this vampire out of here without getting nailed by the police or that Frederick jerkweed is gonna be fun!” He shook as if chills had run through his body. “What a rush!”

  “You’re a sick bastard.” Beth spat.

  “What’s your point?” Jack tilted his head as distant sirens wailed. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m out of time. We’ll just borrow your van if you don’t mind.” He backed to the side and motioned for them to approach.

  Richard did as he was told. Beth followed.

  “Not you.” Jack waved her back. “I want you, Ray, and Dan over by the basement stairs.”

  Dan looked back and forth, his eyes filled with fear. “Okay, man. Just don’t shoot me!” His ponytail whipped around behind him with each turn of his head.

  Richard might have found it comical if their situation was not so dire.

  Jack laughed.

  “Relax, granola. I have no reason to kill any of you.” He paused. “Well, maybe Beth for being such a pain in my ass, but mostly I just want Richard.”

  Dan shuffled towards the stairs.

  “Bite me.” Ray sneered and remained where he was.

  One of the men hit him in the face, knocking him over and drawing blood.

  Richard took a half step.

  “Don’t.” Jack raised his rifle higher. “Cop, you’ve got five seconds to get your ass over to the stairs with the hippie and the lovely Beth or I swear I’ll take you down.”

  “Ray, please… do as he asks,” Richard insisted.

  Ray glared at Jack, but finally nodded and allowed the guard who had struck him to lead him over to stand with the others.

  “You can’t possibly think you’ll get past the Department.” Beth glared.

  Jack laughed. “You know, for someone who is supposed to be a junior member of the team, you talk a lot.”

  “I guess I just have guts.” Beth grinned at him, but there was no humor in her eyes.

  “Whatever.” Jack glanced at his guards and nodded almost imperceptibly.

  Richard had been around long enough to know what was about to happen. He had to act. Anger pressed against his viral shield as his powers thrashed from within. He grabbed onto it and used its energy. He could not allow Jack to anyone.

  Jack raised his gun and pointed it towards Richard’s head. “Don’t do anything stupid, Richard.”

  Whereas before, Richard had had to siphon power through the crack in the shield, this time the barrier simply vanished. Power rushed through him so fast and hard that he staggered and sank to his knees on the cracked pavement. The pressure inside his head threatened to split open his skull. He clutched it with both hands and screamed.

  “Richard!” Beth’s voice sounded far away.

  Jack put his assault rifle to Richard’s left temple.

  Richard barely noticed or cared about the cool steel against his skin. His full power ripped through him, tearing him apart molecule by molecule. A dark force hovered at the edges of his mind and he recognized the tainted presence of the other vampire. The creature called to him from his prison in the underground, hundreds of feet away. He could sense its desperate hunger, its yearning for freedom and its madness.

  “Richard!” Jack’s booming voice brought him back to the alley.

  He pushed the other vampire’s mind away and focused on those around him. He felt their blood pumping through their veins and heard their hearts hammering in their chests. His senses searched outward, detecting the presence of dozens of other people in the buildings around them, the mercenaries and agents still fighting in the tunnels and a small group of men moving through the passage towards the basement through which he had just emerged. Within this new group, he heard Frederick’s telltale heart murmur. Panic washed over him. There was no more time.

  He wrapped his consciousness around the minds of Jack’s two men and squeezed them without mercy, crushing their wills and reducing them to drooling idiots. At the same time, he spun away from Jack and knocked his rifle aside. With his preternatural strength, he launched himself from the ground. Jack turned as if in slow motion, his gun firing as Richard soared overhead. Richard twisted in midair and landed on the fire escape directly above the basement stairs. The bullets ricocheted off the walls, but Richard did not wait. The second his feet touched down, he jumped off performed a somersault, spun around, and landed directly behind Jack.

  Jack tried to track his movement, but was too slow. Richard seized him from behind, yanking the weapon from his hands and tossing it aside. It skittered across the courtyard, past one of the frozen guards just as Beth pulled her own gun. Ray dove for the discarded rifle.

  Hunger meshed with Richard’s anger as he held Jack fast. The mercenary struggled desperately to break free of his grip, but the power buzzing through Richard’s soul could not be denied. He squeezed Jack’s wrists until the man cried out.

  “Go ahead, Richard! Do it! Kill me!” He jerked back, reverse head-butting Richard in the face.

  Richard staggered and let go of one of Jack’s wrists. He blinked tears away. Jack pulled a knife from his boot and thrust backwards. Richard’s heightened reflexes allowed him to move aside, but the blade still bit into his abdomen. Fiery pain shot through him as the silver blade burned him like a hot poker. He let go of Jack’s other arm and yelled in agony.

  Jack pulled another pistol from somewhere and brought it around towards Richard. Before Richard could move, he saw several flashes out of the corner of his eye and heard multiple pops from the direction of the basement. Jack jerked back, dropped his gun, and hit the van with enough force to shake the vehicle. The mercenar
y leader collapsed to the ground one hand clutching his side. Turning, Richard saw Beth and Ray standing arm to arm, she clutching her smoking pistol, he holding the rifle. They slowly lowered them.

  Beth’s expression changed to one of panic as she looked past him. “No!” she yelled.

  Richard heard the movement behind him. He spun faster than any human could and saw that Jack, protected by a bulletproof vest, had somehow managed to roll and retrieve his pistol. He surged forward, clutched Jack’s shirt, batted the gun aside and lifted him off the ground. He met his gaze and saw fear in the mercenary’s eyes. It fueled his burning hunger.

  “Good-bye, Jack.” He let the rage and the bloodlust take him. His fangs elongated and he pulled the man into his deadly embrace. He sank his teeth into Jack’s neck, heedless of the damage he would cause. Comforting warmth filled him to the core as Jack’s life’s blood flowed into him. He felt complete again, whole as he drank the intoxicating fluid. The world faded around him as if he fell down a long tunnel.

  “Richard!” Beth’s voice echoed as if she stood across a great chasm.

  A red veil slid across Richard’s vision obscuring the alley completely from his sight.

  “Richard, stop!” Ray was just as far away as Beth.

  The back of someone’s hand brushed Richard’s cheek.

  “Richard…stop.” Beth spoke in a calm soothing voice.

  The red veil dimmed, the hunger subsided. The mind of the other vampire touched him, urging him to drink more, but he pushed it away. The heartbeats of the people around him thundered in his ears mingling with voices of those nearby. In that cacophony, he heard the sound of scraping metal coming from the basement as someone tried to force the grate.

  “Hurry!” He heard Frederick order.

  The world refocused as the hunger and anger subsided. He found himself standing in the alley beneath the dark, cloud-filled sky. He pulled away from Jack, allowing him to slide to the ground and glanced at his friends. Beth still touched his face. He met her eyes and saw fear and revulsion in them, but also determination and something else he could not quite put his finger on.

  “We must hurry.” His breathing was ragged. “Frederick and his men are nearly through the grate below.”

  “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Beth turned.

  “What about them?” Ray motioned to the two mercenaries with a wave of his pistol.

  Richard knew that they were no longer a threat. He had blasted their minds and it would be days before they would be able to think coherently again, if ever. He felt a stab of remorse at that last thought.

  “They will be dazed for hours,” Richard explained. “Certainly long enough for Frederick’s men to capture them without any further loss of life.”

  The grate scraped and the paint cans toppled with a crash. They would be upon them in seconds. Pain lanced through his abdomen where the silver blade scorched him, but he pushed it aside. There was no time for it and even a wound made by a silver blade would heal, eventually. He turned to the men, his power still buzzing through him.

  “You men will place your hands over your heads and surrender to the authorities when they arrive.” Each of them nodded and did as he had instructed, remaining absolutely motionless.

  “Move, move, move!” Someone shouted from the basement below.

  Beth spun towards the stairs and then back towards them.

  “Everyone get in! Now!” she pointed to the van.

  Dan sprinted around the van and jumped into the driver seat, Ray took the passenger seat and Richard and Beth piled into the open back.

  Beth slammed the door home. “Drive!”

  Dan hit the gas causing the van to lurch forward. As the vehicle pulled out of the alley, flashing blue lights caught Richard’s attention. The police had cordoned off the street a block to the north and stood behind their cars with their guns drawn facing away. Three vans had parked on the sidewalks beyond, their doors were open and several men in black, carrying M-16's, stood on guard.

  "It worked." Ray turned back to look at Beth from the passenger seat. “We got out on the other side of their perimeter. Good job.”

  Beth smiled wanly.

  Richard opened his mouth to comment on her secret identity, but grew suddenly cold. His heart skipped a beat and he very nearly vomited. He pitched forward.

  “No!” The viral shield slammed home, cutting off his powers and leaving him an empty, hollow shell. He cradled his head in his hands and wept openly.

  Beth leaned over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her silver cross dangled outside of the sweat drenched tank top that clung to her.

  “Are you all right?” Her concern appeared genuine. "Richard?"

  He waved her off. “The viral shield came down for a few moments. It is weakening as the viruses fight within me."

  “If Nash was right, that’s probably not a good thing,” she countered.

  “Do you two want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Ray slammed his fist down on his seat. “How can you have your vampire abilities?”

  Richard took a breath and steadied himself against the pain of his injury and the soul numbing sorrow he felt each time his power winked out.

  “Beth has told you about the additional virus Frederick and his men injected into me?”

  “Yes. What about it?”

  “It has inadvertently and randomly allowed me to access my lost preternatural abilities. I do not understand why.”

  “Are you telling me you might get your power back?” Ray’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

  “Why not?” Beth raised her voice in opposition.

  “I saw what you did to Jack back there. He had it coming, but why should I believe that you’ll stop there? If I were you, I’d be pissed at humans for what they had done to me and I’d be out for revenge.”

  “That virus which has allowed me to touch my former glory will also terminate my life in less than twenty-four hours,” Richard countered. “And if, for some reason, it did not, and I did reclaim my lost abilities… revenge should and would only be taken on those who deserve it.”

  “And who’s going to be the judge of that, you?” Ray’s hand dropped to the butt of his pistol where it sat in his shoulder holster.

  “Ray, give him a break! You’ve seen what vampires have been subjected to!” Beth defended him, her face red with anger.

  “Ray is right. No one has the right to play judge, jury and executioner.”

  “What are you saying? Are you-”

  At that moment, Beth’s cross glinted as it caught the dome light. He stared as it slowly blurred, becoming unfocused. A dull rushing sound filled his ears and blackness closed in on him from all sides. He lurched sideways and fell into her arms.

  25

  The guttering torch in Richard’s hand cast just enough light for him to see the hovel at the clearing's edge. He paused, his chest tightening. When he and Colette had parted, he had told her he did not know if they would ever see each other again. Her response had been to simply nod and flash him that all knowing smile. He knew then, that he would return, but he was not certain he could ever truly accept her. His entire life he had heard stories of devils and demons praying on the blood of the living. He had always thought those stories existed merely to frighten children. Now he knew otherwise, but was not quite sure how that knowledge had changed him.

  The forest was eerily silent. A thin mist drifted several inches above the grass, swirling in the cool breeze. Richard shivered and pulled his cloak tighter about him, concealing his mail shirt and protecting him from the chill in the process. Since he had last visited, the huge oak trees surrounding the clearing had given up their leaves to the icy hands of winter. They reached skeletal arms towards the moonless night. They seemed unnatural somehow. His hand dropped to his sword at his hip. He did not fear Colette, necessarily, but he did fear another attack by more of his ‘friends’. They were not all dead, of that he was certain.
/>   He took a few steps and paused. For weeks, he had resisted returning to the woods, to she who had so captured his heart. He had lands to maintain, people to lead and a liege to serve. Upon his arrival home those months ago, Richard had told King William what had befallen him. The king had listened to his tale of treachery with rapt attention. He had been especially impressed as Richard described fending off the last of the rebels single handedly and then dragged himself to a nearby woodsman’s hut to tend his wounds. He had omitted the part about Colette or any mention of Terrence’s betrayal. Colette’s sorceries had worked. Terrence remembered nothing of the events and remained steadfast by Richard’s side. Richard would never again trust him, but had to act normal lest his old friend become suspicious. As to the squire who had witnessed the events, he had remained true to his word and maintained his silence.

  King William, justifiably impressed, had granted Richard additional territory including the very woods in which Colette lived. William had ordered him to root out any other rebels who might be plotting against him, but despite Richard’s best efforts to bury himself in his appointed task, he could not push Colette from his mind. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw her. Each time he drew breath, her lilac scent assailed him.

  He gritted his teeth and walked to the door, apprehension gripping him and causing body to tingle. Light flared from within the small hut, streaming out through the cracks in the door and shutters.

  “Richard.” Colette’s voice was a desperate whisper.

  Richard tensed, knowing instinctively that something was amiss.

  “Colette!” He drew his sword and pushed open the door. It slammed back, revealing the hovel’s interior. Colette lay on the bed, alone. Unlike the last time he had been there, a dozen burning candles were spaced around the floor, casting ample light. Richard gasped at what he saw.

  Colette lay on top of the small bed, propped up on two straw pillows facing the door. She wore a blue dress with a high collar and long sleeves, as if she wished to hide her body. Looking at her face, Richard knew why. Lines marred her once smooth skin and her hair had turned gray and hung in a tangled mess around her head. Her eyes appeared sunken into her skull and dark circles bruised the flesh beneath them. The skin of her hands was wrinkled and her fingers had curled up like claws. Tears slid down her cheeks as she saw him.